Schizophrenia in Trinidad

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Within the Caribbean, the majority of studies conducted have reported that significantly more males present with schizophrenia than females. In Trinidad and Tobago, in a cohort of first admissions to an outpatient psychiatric clinic, schizophrenia was reportedly to be twice as common in males when compared to females (16.2 per cent vs. 8.2 per cent, p<0.01) (Hilwig and Maharajh 1992). A similar trend of male preponderance in schizophrenia in Trinidad (75 per cent) was reported (Bhugra et al 1996). In another Trinidadian study, Hutchinson et al. (2003) examined all first admissions to a psychiatric unit at a General Hospital and reported that psychotic illnesses (schizophrenia spectrum and affective psychoses) were significantly more common in men (p<0.01). These studies however, stated total gender rates for all age categories